Car shuddering
Car shuddering
Author
Discussion

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
Dear all, looking for some help on a ‘type of vibration’.

At 80mph the car seems to shudder for a few seconds, stops then shudders again then stops, it happens every few seconds, the internal mirror is a blurr while this happens, when I drop to 70mph the shudder goes.
All the suspension arms have been refurbished with polybushes and new bolts, I have replaced the front top and bottom ball joints, new track rod ends, replaced all the rear wheel bearings, new CV joints and boots, the geometry has been setup to the factory spec, all wheels are balanced got those done a few months ago, engine mounts are new, the gearbox ones are original, so are the rear diff. The oils have been changed in the gearbox and rear diff last year (4000 miles ago)

If the shuddering was continuous then I would suspect wheels, drive shafts, propshaft. When stationary the engine revs up no vibration maybe this means nothing.

Can any shed some light on the problem – thanks in advance?

Ribol

11,995 posts

288 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
Are you sure its speed related rather than engine revs related?

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
Hi Ribol not sure, it could be the engine, any ideas?

FlipFlopGriff

7,144 posts

277 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
Does it happen at deceleration, acceleration or just maintaining constant speed? Just at 80mph?
The desciption doesn't stack up.
If its at certain revs try the same revs in 3rd and 4th to see if it still does it.
FFG

Ribol

11,995 posts

288 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
Assuming this happens on all sorts of different roads?

I would try going up to say 85mph on a decent road, lift off and see how the shuddering comes in. Then repeat but knock it out of gear and see if anything changes as it slows down. It could be some sort of resonance, taking the engine out of the equation would be a start.

Appologies in advance for saying this, leave the engine running and don't take the key out hehe

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
flipflopgriff and Ribol, will try what you guys have suggested, I have noticed if I increase speed the shuddering continues, will try the 3rd and 4th method and the drop it out of gear, will let you know what happens. thanks for the input

Ribol

11,995 posts

288 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
pbaker43 said:
............I have noticed if I increase speed the shuddering continues.........
I know you have balanced the wheels but do you have access to another set of wheels to try?

Dodsy

7,175 posts

257 months

Sunday 26th August 2012
quotequote all
I had something similar with my chim when I first bought it. Felt like a wheel balance issue but it had a 2-3 second cycle at speed and wasnt continuous.

Turned out that the propshaft UJ was dry. Once it had been dismantled, packed with fresh grease and re-assembled the vibration vanished.

I now make sure its greased at every service.


pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
Dodsy - -you could have something, maybe a joint is worn and under a gently pressure ie high speed it could be oscillating or a joint binding I have never greased the shaft since buying the car 2 years ago and before that I think ADAM was the last person to have this car, it’s my fault with all the jobs that needed doing this one slipped through the net. I have a T5 G/box suppose I will have to pull the whole sleeved part out of the g/box to take the prop off…
When changing the CV joints I noticed that there was a small amount of play on the output shafts from the rear diff could this be a source of the shuddering?
I will continue to try the method of Flipflopgriff and Ribol if this leads to nothing then I will drop the propshaft and change the joints.

Ribol

11,995 posts

288 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
pbaker43 said:
I have a T5 G/box suppose I will have to pull the whole sleeved part out of the g/box to take the prop off…
yes


sgrimshaw

7,587 posts

280 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
Maybe you have lost a balance weight. - might be worth getting the balance checked again.

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
Ribol thanks for the picture (wish I still had my 4 post lift)looks like I need to buy some PAS fluid 'just in case'….

Sgrimshaw getting a prop balanced in the UK no probs i knew loads of places, here in France finding someone = difficult, the cost will be stupid, but if I have lost a weight I will have to pay, lets hope not..

Tonight I will try all the previous suggestions on the auto route, (lets hope there are no police)… after that her ass will be up in the air and check the prop

Dodsy

7,175 posts

257 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
On my chim the joint causing the problem is above the centre exhaust box, I believe you will need to drop the exhaust to grease the joint. IIRC it is an item on the service list but doesnt always get done as its a bit of a pain of a job.

sgrimshaw

7,587 posts

280 months

Monday 27th August 2012
quotequote all
pbaker43 said:
Sgrimshaw getting a prop balanced in the UK no probs i knew loads of places, here in France finding someone = difficult, the cost will be stupid, but if I have lost a weight I will have to pay, lets hope not..
I was actually thinking of a tyre balance weight ....... whistle

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Tuesday 28th August 2012
quotequote all
Ok Guys now you think I being strange when I say I had no shuddering tonight – Went all the way to 125mph kept it there for 3 miles driving on the auto route changing from 5th to 4th dipping the clutch, but nothing, there was a little constant vibration from the front through the steering wheel at 125 but nothing like yesterday – confused so now i am all ears to suggestions.

I have had some vacuum issues with the fuel tank over the last few weeks, would this have anything to do with fuelling to cause the shuddering?

Ribol mentioned the propshaft, I now want to eliminate this from the list of possible’s, does anyone have the part numbers for the UJ’s, are they Land Rover or another, any help please.

Sgrimshaw great suggestion for the tyre weight rolleyes but I can not work out the amount of weight or the extra of the metal zip-tie to hold it- jester

DonkeyApple

70,397 posts

199 months

Tuesday 28th August 2012
quotequote all
Have you filled up with fuel since it last did it?

pbaker43

Original Poster:

268 posts

198 months

Tuesday 28th August 2012
quotequote all
Hi DonkeyApple - I filled up 1 hour before the shuddering started, last night when I returned I went to loosen the filler cap and there was a hiss from the air entering the tank, think I need to check the one way valve and pipes too and from the tank, you think this could be the problem?

DonkeyApple

70,397 posts

199 months

Tuesday 28th August 2012
quotequote all
pbaker43 said:
Hi DonkeyApple - I filled up 1 hour before the shuddering started, last night when I returned I went to loosen the filler cap and there was a hiss from the air entering the tank, think I need to check the one way valve and pipes too and from the tank, you think this could be the problem?
I'm not sure.

What I was thinking of was the fact that the shudder seems to happen at the kind of RPM level that is roughly where the engine will be coming on to the cam. It might be possible that a batch of crappy fuel could be the cause.

I have a very cammy engine and you can really feel the point at which it comes onto the cam and starts flying, I recently had some turd fuel in the car and that tonal vibration point as the engine gets going was exacerbated quite badly by this. As soon as I got some Optimax in and through it everything went all sweet again.